The stock market rose today as the U.S. Senate approved a $15 billion jobs bill aimed at boosting job growth by giving tax breaks to businesses that hire the unemployed.

The bill was approved by a bipartisan 70-28 vote and now goes back to the House, which passed a more ambitious version in December.

The legislation would give companies that hire unemployed Americans an exemption from paying payroll taxes on those workers through the end of this year. The plan also would provide a $1,000 tax credit to employers who keep new workers on the payroll for at least for 52 weeks.

In addition, the jobs bill would extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump $20 billion into them in time for the construction season. Economists say the tax breaks could create perhaps 250,000 jobs, according to The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama said, "The American people want to see Washington put aside partisan differences and make progress on jobs, and today the Senate took one important step forward in doing that."

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said, "I am pleased the jobs bill passed the Senate with support from both parties. I am especially pleased it includes a payroll tax break, similar to the jobs tax credit I proposed. While not as aggressive as my jobs tax credit legislation, this assistance for businesses should provide some help for Wisconsin businesses and workers. Passage of this bill is important but more must be done, and Congress must remain focused on job creation and bringing down unemployment."

The legislation was approved after Senators managed to defeat an attempt by the Republican leadership in the chamber to filibuster the bill earlier this week. That logjam was broken when newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) voted with the Democrats in favor of the bill to give tax credits to small businesses for new hires.

Eight Republican senators voted against cloture or were absent, which in a cloture vote is the same as a no vote, on the bill earlier this week, but then voted for the bill today.

After two days of declines, the stock market reacted favorably to the news this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing by more than 100 points. Investors also took comfort in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony, in which he signaled that interest rates are likely to remain stable for the foreseeable future.

Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index partook in this morning's rally, led by Bucyrus International Inc. (up $2.24 to $61.79) and Joy Global Inc. (up $1.34 to $50.08). The largest local decliners this morning were Strattec Security Corp. (down 82 cents to $18.10) and Manpower Inc. (down 27 cents to $51.04).